ELTWeekly Vol. 3 Issue#104 | November 14 | ISSN 0975-3036
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Glocalisation Of English Studies In The Perspective Of Globalization
by
Dr.Sitaram Bhargava
Dr.Sitaram Bhargava is an associate professor in English at Govt.college,Jhunjhunu. He is an M.Phil ( ELT ), PhD ( ELT ) and SLET. He has attended several national and international seminars , conferences and workshops; his several reaearch papers have been published in reputed journals. His book ‘ Decolonising English:-A Study Of The Poetry Of Nissim Ezekiel And A.K.Ramanujan ’has recently been published. His specialisation is ‘English language teaching’ and ‘Indian writing In English’.
Abstract
The term ‘ global English ’ is a product of globalization . Ideally and ideologically ‘glo-balisation’ should mean delocalization and denationalization . Whereas , what is happening in the name of globalization is only economic globalization , that too the creation of an international market for a few multinational companies. The West wants to keep the multi billion dollar global English teaching industry in the hands of a small group of Anglo-American native speakers of English , their English alone is ‘ standard’ and it is race/ class marked.
The present research paper explores the idea of developing an understanding of globalization which will offer a great deal of assistance in beginning to understand the function and meaning of globalization. Glocalisation also presents a potential response to meant to offer protection against the more negative effects of globalization .Globalisation can be found to harm local economics , undermine the sovereignity of governments, and create instances of unemployment and poverty in various parts of the world. It presents a care in favour of the globalization of social work to enhance the social welfare of citizens. The paper proposes to take into the consideration the socio-cultural, economic and technological aspects of acquisition of English as a second language .
Introduction
Glocalisation is a combined word of globalization and localization. The term ‘ glocal’ refers to the individual, group, division, unit, organization and community which is willing and able to think globally and act locally. The term is somewhat different from the term ‘ globalization ’ regarding spelling, glocalisation serves as a means of combin-ng the idea of globalization with that of local considerations .
According to Crystal, ‘ It is the world’s first truly global language there is hardly any country in the world where English is not being learned as the ‘ second language ’. Today English has become a ‘ status symbol’ for people . ‘ Fluency in English ’ is considered not only a pre-requisite for handsome salary and good job ; but it has become a matrimonial qualification too.A person who is well versed in this language gets an extra edge over other people, and those who are not fluent in English are looked upon as ‘illiterates ’and ‘ unsophisticated ’ ones. 1
As it has become evident that English is a global language.It is a window to the world.There are one thousand and five hundred million speakers of English in the world and this huge population constitutes one fourth of the world’s population.There are two varieties of English : Native and Non native. Native varieties of English include British , American, Canadian, Australian, South-African and that of New Zeeland.There are 400 million speakers of this variety.Non Native varieties of English can be classified as second language varieties such as spoken in India.,Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Africa etc. Four hundred million people speak English as a second language. The second non native variety of English is spoken as a foreign language.in countries like Japan, China, Korea, Russia, Italy ,France and Germany. Seven hundred million people speak English as a foreign language. David Crystal made a very important point in ‘The Times Of india’ on 12th oct 2004 that Hinglish, Indish or Englian would soon become the most commonly spoken form of language globally because of IT revolution. Language varies according to its function. The language variation according to the user is called dialect. There are geographical, social, registral and stylistic variations in the use of English . There are numerous differences between British and American English at phonological, syntactical and lexical levels. Generally what happens is that second language learners try to imitate the native English varieties .As the Britishers ruled over India for more than two hundred years , British English has been the more than two hundred years , British English has been the norm for most of the speakers of English .But lately it seems that because of the influence of information technology and call centres many youg speakers of English in India are getting influenced by American English too.When English was transported from Britain to America and other parts of the world, even the native varieties of English registered variations at phonological, syntactical and lexical levels. It seems the principle of simplification is at work in transported native varieties of English . The same principle is noticeable in second language learning .Because of the operation of this principle of simplification , there are striking similarities between American and Indian English.
The fact is that we have literature in Sanskrit , literature in urdu , literature in Tamil , literature in Latin and so on and so forth .But most of these languages and their literatures have already been considered as’dead’. Sanskrit , urdu ,Tamil, Latin and Greek fall under this category.At the same time languages like ‘ Hindi’ and ‘French ’ are confined to the territories of their particular nation and the literature of these languages have hardly any reader outside their countries . But English has emerged as the one and only language which has been used and is being used as the common medium of expression irrespective of the countries and their territories. It is becoming the ‘ Lingua Franca ’ for the whole world. It is spoken not only by the native speakers but non-native speakers too.
Historically , if we go to some centuries back , people , communities and nations were closed societies . There was a little communication among people , communities and nations. With the discoveries in the fields of navigation , transport , industries and many other scientific developments and inventions – communication , commerce and interaction among people and nations increased. In free India, Indians have understood that English is not only the language for shaping one’s aesthetic sense or getting ‘ civilized ‘, such functions have been more effectively performed by Indian languages with their rich and ancient tradition . English is necessary for mobility, car-eer and advancement , opportunities , social and economic purposes.As an international language , English has a lot of ‘ surrender value’ and learners of English can cash on it. Today there is great demand for courses on spoken English , written English, Business English , Management English , Technical writing , Medical transcription, Communication skills in English etc. The market for literary English and literature based courses is fast dwindling. English departments in universities must chang their content and style of teaching to suit market conditions, otherwise , they will be marginalized .
We need to profit from the stock of knowledge in English. We need English for technological purposes and for modernization .That is why English is retained as the language of instruction in our agricultural universities, though English is not the language of agriculture in India. We need to intellingently to use the resources of English to enrich the major Indian languages ; we need to activate the process The fact that English is a window to the world and an access to the growing fund of knowledge in science and technology, can’t be denied. The English language has the necessary information in every branch of knowledge, which is readily available , just at the click of the mouse on the internet . English is an ‘ exploding language ’ in a world of percolation ’ from the ‘ lab’ to land by using English as a source language . English has to play a catalytic role in contemporary India and not a literary role as in the days of the British Raj. The teaching and learning of English in India should become as agent of social change and social transformation , adapting Macaulay’s ‘ filtration theory’ we must produce a class of Indians , not only in blood and colour , but also Indians in tastes , in opinion , in morals and in intellect-a- class of Indians who will be socially purposes responsible , productive end committed to the cause of nation building.’ 2
English is no longer projected as a study of culture for humanistic purposes; Englishhas become an important tool of international communication . Moreover, even after independence, men, methods and materials ’in the teaching of literature or language were either imported or influenced by experts from outside . No serious attempt was made to evolve indigenous approaches to the teaching of English in India. There was no attempt to redefine the goals of teaching English in post colonial India.There has been no political will or proper administrative skill to implement the policies outlined by the various commissions.
An indigenous approach ‘ based on our own needs and requirements , on our own wisdom , suitable to a multi cultural and multilingual context must be evolved for teaching English in India. Decolonising the colonial English educational pattern in India is also an attempt to examine and study certain fundamental issues like the suitability of western models as universals, problems in adoption and adaptation, and how adept we are in handling neo-colonialism. Our attempt in India will be a case study .In fact, it should be called the second freedom movement towards decolonization of education.
Language is the vehicle of virtually every social and intellectual activity .One does not have a convent or public school education to write eng- lish well.The trouble arises when our people strive after effect while using English. The desire to impress is the bane of the writing / speaking of so many of us. No language is unitary in nature. It is invariably a confederation of dialects , regional variants and professional argots. In every language there is a perpetual conflict between law and life, Between order and assertiveness. Every languge tries to have a standard version – Ox-Bridge English as well. 3
Globalisation is a world wide process which is unfolding in different parts of the worlds with different meanings and cannotations .It is a multidimensional phenomenon involving diverse domains of activities and interactions including the economic , trade, political, cultural, social and linguistic spheres . Globalisation , as a universal process, has two distinct characteristics : first , it suggests that many chains of political and social activities are becoming inter-regional and inter continental in scope and , second , it suggests that there has been an intensification of levels of interaction and interconnectedness within and among states and societies. In a general sense , globalization has created a new context and a new connectivity among economic actors and activities throughout the world. Greater global interconnectedness and greater international interdependence become the basic postulations of globalization.The world is not only taking a shape of ‘ global village ’ but –‘ global conciousness ’ is also emerging. Thus, globalization is a process with multifarious implications and it cannot be restricted to merely economic and trade spheres.
Globalisation is a term describing the increasing interdependence, integration and interaction among people, companies and corporations in disparate locations around the world.The term has been used as early as 1944; however Theodore Levitt used the term globalization in economic context, but presently it has become an umbrella term, which refers to a complex phenomenon of economic , social, technological, cultural and political inter-relationsips.Globalisation has shifted our civilization into planetary civilization that bears the interest of global citizens. In this era of shared interests English as a language is playing a key role in this process of global dissemination and it is redefining national and individual identities worldwide.It has become the de facto language of the choice of international communication.
In south-east Asia, the response to globalization is to acquire language skills, not in many languages, but in one, the English language , which is seen as the key to success in the globalised age. It is indeed English, which served the colonial British empire and now drives the knowledge economy and the internet.Globalised modernization requires that knowledge is imparted in ways that are comparable across differences of setting ,culture and language. The present generation is convinced that English is needed for mobility and social and economic development. The acceptance of the proposal of Macaulay by British government led to the proliferation of English in India as it became ‘ the sine qua non for scholar , the job seeker , and the affluent in the society.’ The government withdrew financial support to the Indian educational institutions and Indian languages . Thus, Indian education systems were destroyed and Indian languages bore a major set back. On the other side, English language became powerful and new schools and colleges were set up. ‘This change meant that any Indian who aspired to a role in public life or private business had to imbibe to western knowledge. Very soon , English became another language in India. In the next century and a half , a new community of English speaking Indians emerged and it was this community which took over power from the colonial rulers in 1947. Though the colonial rulers left the country but their language stayed back.’ 4
The language and education policy since independence was , of course , provided some important role to Indian languages in comparison with the colonial policy of using only English as the medium of instruction . In 1938, Zakir Hussain committee recommended the use of mother tongue in education and its effective teaching . But the half – hearted and bad implementation of policies has created an atmosphere in favour of English rather than in favour of Indian languages . In the present context, Indian languages and English are competing for power i.e. the role of political control and social mobility. The use of English is trickling down from the elite to lower middle class and from formal academic administrative official domains. It is difficult to expect people to stick to their language only for the sentimental cultural associations while the socio- economic environment is favourable to the other language . If the socio- economic environment favours the language oter than the mother language of a person , he is more likely to shift the language. It rquires us to understand globalization not purely as an economic phenomenon but also as a cultural and linguistic phenomenon. When we negotiate for economic partnership , we should also negotiate for linguistic partnership, which is not so easy with the given policies and circumstances in India. The position of English as a world language seems to be secure . Today English is used for more communicative functions than ever before . Everywhere it is at the leading edge of technological and scientific development , new thinking in economics and management , new literatures and entertainment genres.The effect of this expansion of English is seen most clearly in communication on the internet and the development of ‘ net-english .’ 5
To conclude, the various aspects of English language can be better understood through the local categories regarding to social, economic, technological phenomenon Globalisation encourages the individuals to alienate themselves from their local domains and nationalistic feelings and opt for global products ( brands including English as a global language ).English is now being marketed as a global product; ELT has become an industry .To cope with the situation , a huge monetary and intellectual investment goes into English Language Teaching on the globe . English is a language which gives expression to thoughts and feelings of a social group. But English is a foreign language for Indians. English , in pre-independence days, occupied a very important place and role in India , for it was not only an official language administration and courts but also the medium of instruction in schools and colleges.After independence in 1947, English lost its highest position and Hindi was declared the associate language .Whatever might have happened , but English continued to be used in free India.Today ,as English language has been accepted as an international language by most of the people of the world, the present question that deserves all our attention is not whether or not we want English in our country , but in what way shall we upgrade the fast declining standard of teaching learning process of English in India . The awareness of communicative potential of English as foreign language in India depends upon the theoreticians , the teachers of English, the learners of English and the English speaking people .
References
Anthony G.Mc.Grew (1992) Conceptualising Global Politics, Cambridge Univ.Press
Crystal, David , (2003) The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of English Language,CUP
Krishnaswami, N,(2006) The Story of English in India, New Delhi,FoundationBooks.
Aggrawal,J.C. (1983) Landmarks in The History of Modern Indian Education, New Delhi; Vikas Publishing House Held, D.et al (1999) Global Transformations, Cambridge Polity
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